Hyeres - Top 5

The regular readers out there might have noticed that I can be little impatient/lazy and this forces me to take short cuts in some of my exploits, but on the majority of occasions rather than being shoddy the fruits of my quick burst of labour usually work. It works here. Many bloggers out there have been far more proactive than me when it comes to posting about Hyeres...I personally love how Susie Bubble has posted on the event, her eyes are my eyes... of course the Sartorialist captures some great images as well; there were plenty of people to snap but some of his choices surprised but as always impressed me... being a French festival there were plenty of French bloggers there, the pick of the bunch being Garance Doré, punky b and Cafe Mode. Without a further ado, here are my top 5 Hyeres moments:

1 - The Villa Noailles itself.

It is a beautifully modern building located on a mountain top with fabulous views of the city below. The drive up there might have been a little frightening (I rented a car, a nippy Citroen C3 - so I was the official driver of the event) but once there it was well worth it. The building, gardens and views are all breathtaking and it was the perfect place to chillax for most of the day reading Nico and a selection of other fashion magazines before wandering around the grounds and admiring the exhibitions.

The main garden where we sat, read and caught the sun

2 - Meeting the Sartorialist

OK - I admit it I didn't take this shot....I was far too scared to ask the great man for a photo - the image comes courtesy of A Shaded View.

After spending much of my time at the festival waiting to spot the Sart, I bumped into him at the party on the last night. He isn't at his most comfortable at parties, he certainly isn't a Facehunter, but we talked about his makeover post, why he wanted to do it and of course the furore which followed. He wanted to do it because, well he wanted to do it, his experience goes much further than taking snaps of people and the opportunity itself arose. He was a little surprised by the level of negativity on the post, it was the times that his readers had attacked him personally but he stood by what he wanted to do. You have to admire that. The overall feeling I took away after meeting him was that he knows what he wants and he stands by what he does and doesn't want to be pigeonholed by people- if they don't like it they don't have to read the blog.

3 - People watching

I'm afraid that much of my people watching was just that, watching...I didn't have the balls to ask for a photo. I think myself and Thomas from the Sunday Best need to sign up to Street Style Photography masterclasses. The most memorable person was a chap from Madrid who sported a clash of floral patterns...he certainly had the gaze of most of the people in and around the garden.

I really shouldn't like this in any capacity but I think under the sunshine of the South of France, the clash of florals worked for me.

The majority of people on show were well dressed, I saw quite a few pairs of the Pierre Hardy Hi tops which we featured back in November, a few pairs of Raf Simon shades, a few Slimane Dior Homme suit jackets but there was a lot of people dressed all in black or very casually...I'm making excuses for myself...I should have been more snap happy. I'm sorry readers!

4 - Melvin Sarkozy photography exhibition.

The images were quite astounding. The only negative was the room in which they were hung was pretty much a greenhouse, but as my eyes were melting I was happy that these photos were probably going to be the last things that I ever so (NB fortunately my eyes didn't actually melt). The photographs themselves are timeless, a masterclass of techniques and eye. Interestingly though, the man himself didn't see himself as a Fashion Photograper... he was interested in the clothing only for producing a powerful shot.

5 - Eric Lebon room

This was my pick of the fashion exhibitions. Lebon is a Hyeres graduate (but not a winner) and is a self taught designer who mixes the cultures of hip hop with more traditional notions of menswear. The room was full on wonderful pieces which I would welcome into my wardrobe... none more so that the bag shown below...